on the road less travelled in Ireland and france

Blog by Fran Silk and Conal Healy

There are several reasons why Fran and I are taking this trip to Europe. The first being Unfinished Business. We had planned to go back to Paris in 2020 after being there in 2019. Within an day of touching down in the French capital, my parter Fran announced: “That’s it, we are coming back to Paris next year”.

Paris had put her under a spell. She loved the architecture, the food, the sight of young children going to school … the newness, the foreign-ness!

We would travel on to London, Scotland, Northern and southern Ireland on that trip, but it was Paris that had lodged in her heart. For months after our return to Australia, we would watch TV shows featuring France (Lupin).

It was Rick Stein’s Secret France that persuaded us to forego the tourist trail and take the backroads through France. Explore the places that most tourists don’t see.

Then the Covid-19 pandemic struck. In the space of a few short weeks our world shrank from global to our post code. Our dreams of returning to Paris went on hold.

Another reason for the European trip is that neither Fran nor I are getting any younger. Time is running out for us. We don’t plan to wait until we retire to travel the world – we want to see the world before our knees (and health) give out.

We can always find more money, but you can’t buy more time. We are travelling now.

Now in 2023 we are heading to Europe.